Interim Housing Solutions

The number of people currently experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region is unprecedented. Similar to many communities across Canada, we are seeing the effects of living in poverty, mental health issues, rising housing costs, and the impacts of the opioid crisis, first-hand in Waterloo Region.

The Region of Waterloo estimates there are about 1,000 people currently experiencing homelessness across the region, including about 530 people experiencing homelessness for long periods of time (chronic homelessness).

As the Service System Manager for Housing and Homelessness, we are working with area municipalities and community partners on this very complex issue. We are also actively engaging with other levels of government on the necessary investments needed for permanent, sustainable solutions.

Overview of the Interim Housing Solutions strategy

In the summer of 2022, we developed an Interim Housing Solutions strategy that uses four key tools:

1. Expanding the Transitional Housing Program;
2. Expanding the Home-Based Support Program (Scattered Site Supportive Housing Program);
3. Expanding the Emergency Shelter Program; and
4. Opening a temporary managed outdoor emergency shelter.

For more information, view the 2022 presentation to Regional Council on the Interim Housing Solutions.

We have also begun work to create The Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, which will guide the Region’s work to prevent and end chronic homelessness through a community-wide effort.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution in responding to the growth of homelessness and no one organization or government has the necessary resources to solve the problem alone. Addressing homelessness in Waterloo Region is a shared community responsibility. We work with partners from across this sector to support people experiencing homelessness, from emergency shelter providers to outreach to housing providers, and more.

Following Housing First principles, we are focused on a recovery-oriented approach to ending homelessness with the understanding that everyone is housing ready. We are committed to building a healthy and inclusive community where all residents can thrive and feel supported.

Progress on the Interim Housing Solutions strategy

Transitional Housing

• Transitional housing programs offer a supportive, temporary type of accommodation that bridges the gap from homelessness to permanent housing. Transitional housing helps people with life stabilization by meeting health and housing needs through on-site staffing support.
• In Waterloo Region, the existing transitional housing program has been very effective in supporting people with long experiences of unsheltered homelessness move indoors, stabilize in housing, and in many cases, transition into permanent housing.
• We have partnered with K-W Urban Native Wigwam Project to implement a new Indigenous-led transitional housing program in Waterloo. This program provides temporary accommodations and 24/7 staffing support to help people who identify as Indigenous transition from an experience of homelessness to permanent housing. Supports will be culturally relevant and trauma informed with an Indigenous focus on community, inclusions, identity, healing and support. Read the media release.

Scattered Site Supportive Housing

• Scattered site supportive housing programs are rooted in a Housing First approach, helping people to find and keep a home in rental units located across the community. Through scattered site supportive housing, rent assistance is provided to make housing in the private market more affordable, and wrap-around staffing support is provided to help people stabilize and recover from their experience of homelessness. Since the staffing support provided to participants is portable, it can follow people if they re-locate to other housing in Waterloo Region.
• In Waterloo Region, scattered site supportive housing programs are effective in ending homelessness and reducing a person’s risk of returning to homelessness. These programs also strive to preserve positive relationships with partner landlords.
• We have partnered with Lutherwood, Cambridge Shelter Corporation and K-W Urban Native Wigwam Project to expand our program by 100 units across Waterloo Region. These 100 units will provide permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness to move forward on their housing journey and recover from their experience of homelessness.

Emergency Shelter

• Emergency shelter programs help people meet their basic needs and connect them to housing options through temporary congregate or semi-private overnight accommodations. Emergency shelter programs do not require people to sign leases or occupancy agreements.
• Emergency shelters are short-term responses to homelessness, and focus on connecting people to housing and community supports as identified in individualized housing plans. These plans support a rapid move from emergency shelter to permanent housing.
• We expanded emergency shelter spaces in 2022 with the addition of two new shelters in Kitchener:
  • King Street Shelter
  • Services and Housing in the Province (SHIP) Shelter at Frederick Street

Hybrid Shelter/Outdoor Model

• We opened the Erbs Road Outdoor Shelter in the spring of 2023. It is an additional temporary shelter option for people experiencing homelessness.

The Plan to End Chronic Homelessness

• We continue to work, alongside community partners, on The Plan to End Chronic Homelessness (The Plan).
• The Plan will be a roadmap of strategies, resources and timelines needed to end chronic homelessness in our community. The team working on The Plan provided an update to the community and Regional Council at the Community and Health Services Committee in September 2023. More updates will be provided in November and December 2023.